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Just one more reason to make sure this is Mary Jo Kilroy and Zach Space lose in November:

It’s springtime in Washington, and that means peak season for earmark requests, not just the famous cherry blossoms.

Two of central Ohio’s lawmakers, GOP Reps. Pat Tiberi of Genoa Township and Steve Austria of Beavercreek, aren’t asking for earmarks in the 2011 spending bills, taking part in House Republicans’ one-year ban on such requests.

But Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Columbus, has submitted a long wish list to the House Appropriations Committee – more than 50 earmarks totaling more than $115 million.

An earmark is a request by a lawmaker to designate federal dollars in annual spending bills for an individual project usually in his or her district or state.

These two have a history of requests but are looking for more this year:

According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, an organization in Washington critical of earmarks, Kilroy won $18.2 million in earmarks for the 2010 federal spending year, sixth-highest among Ohio’s 18 House members.

Rep. Zack Space, whose southeastern Ohio district stretches into Muskingum and Licking counties, won $13.7 million for earmarks last year.

This year, the Dover Democrat is seeking more than $160 million for more than 100 projects. For instance, Space wants $2 million for the Ohio National Guard to help upgrade the Zanesville Air National Guard Station.

Tiberi and Austria, like their GOP colleagues in the House, deserve props for taking a stand and agreeing to a moratorium on earmarks.  Earmarks often spend money for political purposes, involve waste, and can easily slip into outright corruption.

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Roll Call:

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), who is undecided on the health care vote, said she is urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to hold a separate vote reaffirming Rep. Bart Stupak’s (D-Mich.) strict language limiting abortion insurance coverage to help clear the way for passage of the reform package Sunday.

Nancy Pelosi’s answer? No.

But Kaptur is worried:

Kaptur said she remains undecided on the bill and has a host of concerns beyond abortion language, but she said she is talking to leadership and trying to find a way to support the bill. “I want to be constructive,” she said. “We have to find a way to work it out.”

Kaptur suggested a separate vote sending a new bill to the Senate with the Stupak language could be sufficient, given that abortion language appears to violate the rules for reconciliation bills. “It would probably have to be a separate bill,” she said. Kaptur said she told Pelosi during an extensive face-to-face meeting on the House floor Wednesday that “I don’t want to be a problem for her,” but she has concerns about abortion and other issues, such as reimbursements for hospitals in her district.

Kapture should be worried about retaining her seat.

But if she truly cared about the unborn she would quite playing games and take a stand.

Click here to view the embedded video.